Gustave Courbet: A Biography (Da Capo Paperback)

"COURBET, without ideals and without religion." Courbet is said to have used this phrase occasionally on his writing-paper, surmounted by a drawing of two crossed pipes. And he was rarely seen without his pipe. Critics try to make him out as some kind of social revolutionary(painter of social realism) but as Mack tells it he did not define himself by the labels others coined. Courbet, however he may have been interpreted, was the one man revolution which challenged the academies and Salon system of showing art in France. He is a great and colorful figure and his story is very exciting to follow(complete with tales of beer and Vendome toppling). This biography is a very enjoyable telling of Courbet's life and the history of France at the time. There is plenty of detailed analysis of paintings here and the approach is scholarly and full of facts allowing all the various interpretations of Courbet's work to gently coexist but there is enough story here to attract the more casual follower of the visual arts as well. My copy of this has black and white reproductions of the paintings( not sure why they even bothered) but they put them all at the very end so they don't get in the way. You will want to see the paintings as they are discussed so save your money and buy a book of beautiful reproductions to sift through as you read. And get yourself a clay pipe to assist you in your viewing.